Sammir Escapes Punishment: “I’ve Chosen My Army And I’m Going To War With Them”, Says Stimac Ahead Of Serbia Clash

Just days after the Croatian football federation called on local media not to provoke and add any fuel ahead of the already sensitive Croatia v Serbia World Cup qualifier in Zagreb later this month, Croatia’s own coach Igor Stimac has selected a rather unusual set of words in an interview with Croatian daily Sportske novosti.

“I’ve chosen my army and I’m going to war with them”, said Stimac in an interview with the paper after being asked about the possibility of axing midfielder Sammir for a drink-driving charge on the weekend.

Stimac confirmed that Sammir would not face the same fate as Danish striker Niklas Bendtner who was told he would not be picked for Denmark for the next six months after being arrested drunk behind the wheel on Sunday.

“Sammir is a young man, the fact that he drunk on Saturday two beers till 3.30am, that is OK. Is that a lot? He was free, he had his club’s permission, why wouldn’t he go out,” said Stimac.

Sammir had a blood alcohol level of 0.76 when he was stopped in the early hours of Sunday morning, 0.26 over the legal limit, but Stimac was not seeing the serious side.

‘Maybe I will reward him. Last time he had a blood alcohol level of 2.5, he is evidently making progress,” joked Stimac.